Matam High-Tech Park at the southern entrance to Haifa is the largest and oldest dedicated technological park in Israel. The buildings in Matam at the front of the picture are of Intel and Elbit Systems. Photo: Zvi Roger/Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Israeli high-tech companies reached the highest quarterly sum since 2013 by raising $2.24 billion in the third quarter of 2019.

A report by IVC Research Center and the international-law firm ZAG-S&W revealed that high-tech firms secured 142 deals in the last quarter—also the highest number since 2013—including 13 deals that exceeding $50 million each.

The six largest deals that were secured in the third quarter, each exceeding $100 million, added up to $841 million.

High-tech companies have raised a total of approximately $6 billion since the start of 2019, which almost exceeds the total amount the same companies raised in all 12 months of 2018, which was $6.35 billion. The report added that during the last quarter, venture capital-backed deals raised $1.6 billion in 81 deals, compared to $1.31 billion in 72 deals during the same period last year.

“As a former athlete, I know that once you reach first place, the real difficulty is holding on to it,” said Shmulik Zysman from ZAG-S&W. “After seeing record-breaking numbers in the previous quarter, the third quarter even surpassed it, with this year’s recruitment record breaking every previous quarter. The record was recorded both for the Israeli funds, whose total borrowing remains high and stable, and for the total capital, which climbed by 45 percent in the corresponding quarter last year and last quarter.”

The software sector is leading the way in securing funding deals, raising almost $1.4 billion in 52 deals, according to the report.

Marianna Shapira, research director at IVC Research Center, said, “One notable trend expected to continue during the fourth quarter of this year is the rapid growth of fast-growing software companies, especially in the artificial intelligence and cyber verticals.”